Knights are more than a one-trick pony

Tuesday

Mar 4, 2014 at 4:00 AM

By Kevin Lynch Sports Writer

MILLERSBURG -- The first thing that comes into the mind of opposing coaches when they take on West Holmes is figuring out a way to slow down Laina Snyder. Snyder is the Eastern District Player of the Year, a four-year starter who will be taking her talents to Ashland University next season.

But most opponents know there is much more to the West Holmes attack than Laina Snyder.

Wayne Horsley, coach of Athens The Plains Bulldogs, who opens the Div. II Zanesville Regional tonight against the Knights, has been dealing with that dilemma ever since his team topped Jackson 58-51 in the Chillicothe District championship game last week.

"Maybe the bus won't show up," Horsley said with a laugh. "This is the third week in a row where we've played against a premier post player. We've done alright the last few weeks, but Snyder is a heck of a player. We'll just have to play fundamental defense, with solid help-side defense."

Throughout the first 25 games this year, Snyder has been willing to take a back seat when it comes to scoring, and the Knights have become better because of it.

Juniors Alex Brown and Alex Starr and two sophomores, Brittleigh Macaulay and Hannah Clark, are the four players getting the most minutes behind the trio of seniors (Snyder, Emily Molnar and Paiten Strother). Clark is averaging just under 10 points per game (9.7) and Macaulay chips in at just under seven, while Starr also averages just over seven points per game, and Brown chips in four-plus.

"The two Alexes are just quiet workhorses," Patterson said. "They come in, do their job, do what's asked of them, but they don't get a lot of credit. When there is a hustle play that needs to be made, or if we need a defensive stop, or if we need a critical 3, those two come in and have done a tremendous job giving us what we need. They have both started for us at different times this season.

"The thing that makes Brittleigh and Hannah who they are is, they have the length," the coach continued. "They both have a little more size and can play inside or outside. When you're nearly 6-foot and can score inside or shoot from the outside, that really makes them hard to defend.

"Those four are probably the best kids you can have there, for primary players," she said. "It doesn't get much better than those four. They have three great role models in the seniors who have worked so hard for so long. Nobody cares who gets the limelight, as long as we win and move on."

The West Holmes coach says her girls are firmly focussed on tonight's game.

"Our mindset is, we play Athens Tuesday," Patterson said. "We struggled offensively in our last game and kind of had to rely on our defense. That's where we've been all year. We feel if we can play defense, we can compete in any game. Our offense has been up and down at times, which means we have to play defense, which our kids do, night in and night out."

Horsley recognizes that there is more to West Holmes than just Snyder, just as his team is more than its top player, junior point guard Dominique Doseck, who is averaging in the upper 20s.

"She is the engine behind the machine, but we are far from a one-trick pony," Horsley said. "Our team is shooting 47 percent from the field, and 35 percent from 3-point range."

West Holmes coach Lisa Patterson has her eyes on Doseck.

"She's a handful," Patterson said. "She can shoot the deep 3s and get to the rim. Handling Doseck will be the primary goal of ours. She's tough to defend."

Also adding to the Athens offense are post players Rachel Gilkey, a sophomore, and senior Mikala Perry. Hannah DeBruin and Elyse Lutz are also players who can put up some points for the Bulldogs.

"They've been to the regionals before. They know what it's like," Patterson added. "They're a good team and they'll be ready."

Kevin Lynch can be reached at 330-674-5676 or klynch@the-daily-record.com.